Luke 16: 19-31                                                                                                              Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

1 Timothy 6: 6-19                                                                                                                     September 28, 2025

“As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

Prayer: Holy Spirit, may we seek you always, to have you in our hearts, so we may serve you. Amen.

This past week I saw a wonderful flashmob video of the “Bohemian Rapsody.” A couple of you asked me if I had seen it. It’s great. Well-rehearsed but performed as if it were a spontaneous concert on a busy city street. I loved it. And the opening lyrics of the song are “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.”

And all of us live in real life, right? We live with God in our hearts. With Christ’s Holy Spirit within our spirit. We live with our faith in practice. I ask you…. Is this the real life? Or is it just fantasy?

It IS the real life. God. Christ. The Holy Spirit. Our faith. These are our reality. These are what make our lives rich. And lots of other good things add to that richness: Family. Friends. Church. Privilege. Material wealth. And health, in most cases. But the main ones are spiritual riches.

Reality is also, however, the place where the riches we have are tested. Every day we are forced to ask how does God in our lives, and Christ in our spirit, and faith in the daily ebb and flow hold up in the face of real-world concerns and situations? Because believe me, those real-world concerns and situations constantly test our faith.

So, please permit me to highlight a couple of places this past week where I think the real-world concerns and situations tested the strength and validity of the spiritual riches we have.

The first situation I noticed was that on September 23rd, that was supposed to be the day of the Rapture. What’s that? [You may ask?] That’s a day in which Jesus is supposed to come back to the earth and take all the faithful with him to the new heavenly Jerusalem. And those who aren’t taken are left behind. Then, according to those who take the bible literally, a time of terrible tribulation will occur on the earth after the rapture.

Some churches teach that people are inherently sinful from the moment of birth, so there’s always this idea that you might not make the cut. If you aren’t doing the right things, or believing the right things, or saying the right things, then you won’t be taken up to where Lazarus is, and you’re going to be left behind and have to figure out how to navigate the world with huge guilt for not measuring up. And eventually have the fear of going to where the rich man is.

What kind of horror is that? That’s what some churches teach? Well, obviously the rapture didn’t happen on the 23rd. And just to let you in on a secret, the word ‘rapture’ isn’t even in the Bible. It’s the literal interpretations of scripture people have that implies that the rapture is a thing that’s coming, and that messes them up.

This rapture idea tests our faith because, while most of us throw out the idea as something only the religious zealots advocate, it does push us to understand what we do believe and why it’s relevant. We believe that Christ has come again and continues to come again all the time. Not physically. Spiritually. His Spirit is the Holy Spirit that was promised to be with and among us. His presence is one of the best spiritual gifts we can receive that makes us incredibly wealthy, spiritually speaking.

And I think this is relevant because the Spirit of Christ is what brings to our consciousness the needs our society and culture have. The needs of others in real life. The Spirit strengthens our resolve to trust in God’s grace and to practice and share that grace with others. It gives us the spiritual fortitude to be God’s servants, working with God to develop a just world for all, seeking equal fairness for the unfairly treated, feeding the hungry, welcoming and including the marginalized, finding a place at God’s table for everyone—the Lazarus’s and the rich ones alike. And everyone in between.

So because you’ve got the Spirit, share it. Because you know God’s grace, give it up. Don’t be haughty about it. Just be ready to share it. Set your hope on God that you will be the instrument that God uses for someone else’s benefit. For the betterment of that person’s life. And for the betterment of our world.

Because I believe that God wills for anyone who wants to take hold of life that really is life can actually have it. Perhaps having this belief truly puts the spiritual riches we have to the test.

Which takes me to the second situation this past week where I think our spiritual riches we have are tested. I watched the emotional memorial speech offered by Erika Kirk to honor her husband, Charlie Kirk. And honestly, I thought it was a magnificent speech, even though I don’t agree with most of Erika and her husband Charlie’s conservative religious and political stances. To me, it was a speech people of faith on both sides of the religious spectrum could get behind. One that could help unify people because she found the common ground of faith. Erika spoke of her husband’s faith, of how he responded to God’s call by saying, like Isaiah did, “Here am I, send me.” She spoke about how Christ taught us to love our enemies.

But mostly, how she forgave Charlie’s killer. Not because she wanted to forgive him. Not because it was politically expedient. No, and some of you may disagree, I think she offered her forgiveness because that is what Christ taught her to do. It appeared she had to put aside her feelings about forgiving him, whatever those are, and forgive him anyway.

Which to me, speaks of Christ in her heart, how it’s not always easy to follow him, but when the Spirit of God in Christ looks on your heart, it can transform you. Where you might be “soft” maybe where God has looked on your heart. If you are hard and vindictive, certain that the other person is more likely to be wrong than you are, determined to hate your enemies and opponents, normalizing heartlessness, and making hate speech OK, then it’s likely an indication that there are whole tracts of your inner nature that have never been transformed by God’s gaze. We who are spiritually wealthy are that way because God has looked on our hearts.

Paul’s words to Timothy warn about the love of riches and about how tempting it is to wander away from God’s riches. And his words at the end are for those who are rich with money or material things—he urges them to set their hopes on God.

For us, yes, we are wealthy and privileged, more so than many others in our communities. Let’s be thankful about that. Not haughty. And we are encouraged to share that wealth appropriately. When you got it, share it.

But we are wealthy spiritually, too. We have God and God’s riches of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We have faith that is part of our real life. These are put to the test every day. I encourage you to keep these riches front and center in our real life. God will strengthen their validity for us on our journeys.

So, when you’ve got God—share God. When you’ve got Christ and Christ’s Spirit—share Christ’s Holy Spirit. When you got faith—share faith. This is our real life. And set your hopes on God who richly provides for us. Amen.